Four schools from the Border region are set to test themselves against high-quality opposition when they compete in the 18th Pearson Cricket Festival in Gqeberha from Thursday to Sunday.
Queen’s College will be joined by the East London trio of Hudson Park, Cambridge and Stirling against a host of schools from Nelson Mandela Bay, as well as others from further afield.
Marlow Agricultural will be part of the programme, and will be joined by Outeniqua High from George and Reddam Constantia from Cape Town.
Meanwhile, Pearson will head the Eastern Province contingent alongside other Gqeberha schools such as Victoria Park, Westering, DF Malherbe, newcomers St Dominic’s, Otto du Plessis and Grey High School.
Pearson are excited that there will be the inclusion of a hub team this year, with the strongest players from Nelson Mandela Bay hubs forming a composite team.
They will be joined by Despatch High and Kariega teams Brandwag and Daniel Pienaar.
The festival covers three formats of cricket, with T20 games on Thursday, time format cricket on Friday, and then 50-overs and T20 matches on Saturday and Sunday.
Pearson sent an early warning to their rivals when they kicked off their 2026/2027 season with some dominant performances in their annual derby with Union High School at the weekend.
The first and U15 matches were played at the Summerstrand campus, but unfortunately the second team match scheduled to be played in Graaff-Reinet was cancelled due to heavy rain.
Although there was heavy rain in Port Elizabeth on Thursday, the scheduled T20 matches for the Friday could still take place.
Pearson captain Callum Armstrong won the toss and elected to bowl first.
The home side dismissed Union High for 82, with Deanu Bezuidenhout achieving outstanding bowling figures of 3/8.
Although Pearson lost a wicket off the first ball of their innings, Cale Price showed his maturity to compose a well-played 50 not out off 30 balls. Pearson won the match by eight wickets.
On Saturday, Pearson lost the toss and Union did not hesitate in deciding to bowl first.
The home team were put under early pressure, losing four wickets in the first 10 overs. However, quality innings from James Fullbrook (56), Daniel Ritchie (34) and debutant Zaine Stoltz (32) helped Pearson to get a respectable total of 218 in 44 overs.
With the condition still very much in favour of the bowlers, Pearson made short work of the Union High batting lineup, bowling them out for just 39.
Stoltz was impressive on debut with 3/10 in six overs and Bezuidenhout again performed well with 2/4 as Pearson won by 179 runs.
The U15A side proved too strong for Union in both the T20 and 50 over matches.
The bowlers showing their dominance in the T20, restricting Union to just 32 in 13.2 overs. Chase Finkelstein making short work of the total with 25 not out.
It was the turn of the batters to take control on Saturday, Pearson posting a formidable total of 244/7 in their 50 overs, thanks to well-constructed 50s from Lwandle Mdunduluze and Connor MacKenzie.
In reply, Union were dismissed for 73, Matthew Thaver’s offspin doing most of the damage as he claimed 4/7 in 4 overs. Pearson won by 171 runs.